Improving the Quality of Living Through Hope

HURRICAN HARVEY UPDATE

Dear members, allies and friends of Living Hope: We want to give you an update on our situation.

Our Living Hope team is coordinating by phone and social media to check in with our members and their families and get them any support they need in these difficult times.

We have some of our members that had to be evacuated from their homes but are safe now. We also have some members in the hospital and we are monitoring the situation of some others that have medical conditions, like need for regular dialysis, that put them in a particularly vulnerable situation in these moments.

We are happy to report that on Wednesday August 30th we were able to check our office and storage and they did not flooded! So the supplies and medical equipment we distribute were not damaged. Some of our team members have been able to start going to the office to distribute catheters and diapers to anyone that needs them and can make it there.

We know we are strong because we are in this together, our members and leaders have overcome great challenges in the past and this is what allows us to know that we shall overcome this too.

We also know that difficult times are coming: the destruction of public and private health care and transportation infraestructure will have a very hard impact on access to health care for our members, which was already severely limited due to anti-immigrant policies the County, State and Federal government have been implemented for years and that now are getting even worst. Also, Houston has the largest concentration of refineries in the world, so this huracan is also an enormous environmental disaster that unfortunately will have a long term impact in our whole region.

We are going to keep working hard with our allies in the City of Houston, the non-profit sector, community organizations, and especially our members and community so we can respond to the needs of immigrants and refugees with disabilities and together rebuild a city that will be more just and inclusive.

We are very thankful for the support we are receiving, once we have a better assessment of the needs of our members and their families we will make a more concrete appeal, we can anticipate that many people will need help with housing and home repair, vehicle repair and replacement, as well as access to health care and medicines.

Our faith and solidarity make us strong, we are confident that our communities and the whole city of Houston will come out of this situation stronger, more inclusive and more just!